Avoid using the same name for classes and fields.

Remarks

Avoid having identical variable and class names. Although the compiler allows classes and variables to be named identically, doing this creates code that is difficult to understand and maintain. For example, the following code contains a variable with the same name as the class:

    ' VB
    Public Class Customer
        Sub CreateCustomerID()
            Dim Customer As String
            Customer = "John Doe"
        End Sub
    End Class

    // C#
    class Customer
    {
        public static void CreateCustomerID()
        {
            string Customer; 
            Customer = "John Doe";
        }
    }

In Visual Basic, variables can also conflict with Module declarations. For example:

    Public Class Class1
        Sub test()
            Dim CustomerID As Integer
        End Sub
    End Class

    Public Module MainMod
        Dim CustomerID As Integer
    End Module

Even with very short examples, identical class and field names create very confusing code.

Resolution

To make the code easier to understand, rename the field or the class to be unique. For instance, the code example above could be revised to the following:

    ' VB
    Public Class CustomerInformation
        Dim CustomerName As String
        Sub CreateCustomerID()
            CustomerName = "John Doe"
        End Sub
    End Class

    // C# 
    class CustomerInformation
    {
        public static void CreateCustomerID()
        {
            string CustomerName; 
            Customer = "John Doe";
        }
    }

See Also